The USDA has been accused of continuing to keep its head in the sand.
Industry specialists blame the federal government for "grossly underfunding"
research, with less than one percent of its animal disease grant budget
allocated to Johne's.[61] As Alan Kennedy, a co-founder of PARA and himself
a sufferer of Crohn's disease remarked, "yet another case of CJD --
Conflicting Job Description." The USDA is mandated to regulate animal
industries and food safety, but it is also responsible for promoting these
same agricultural products.[201]

The first US case of Johne's was discovered in Pennsylvania in 1908.[182]
Almost a century later there is still no mandated control program,[138] even
though as far back as 1922 scientists published warnings of the danger posed
by the disease and outlined effective methods of controlling and eradicating
it. Efforts to control and eradicate Johne's disease have been grossly
inadequate.[61] "In the 75 years following the release of that publication,
there's very little that any state has done to try to control the disease,"
says Collins, the University of Wisconsin veterinary researcher. Meanwhile,
as predicted in 1922, the disease has continued to spread silently and
surely. According to the USDA's figures, there are now three quarters of a
million cattle infected with paraTB in the United States.[130]

The reason that Johne's has spread to such a degree is because there have
been no direct constraints on the transport of infected animals.[142] Almost
without exception, paratuberculosis is introduced into a herd through the
addition of an asymptomatic, infected carrier animal. Almost every infected
herd can trace the infection to the purchase of an infected cow[183] that
appeared healthy when offered for sale.[194] Disturbingly, the USDA found
that dairy farmers with infected herds were no less likely to sell
replacement cows to other farms than owners of noninfected herds.[190]

Regulatory vets know and accept this fact, acknowledging that movement
restrictions on infected animals must exist for an effective control
program. However, as described in the Veterinary Clinics of North America,
"if the voluntary program imposes movement restrictions, it could quickly
become a regulatory program and not have widespread support and
participation from the livestock industry."[169] In fact, the Code of
Federal Regulations (part 80) was recently changed to remove restrictions on
the interstate movement of Johne's disease positive animals.[127] The change
was made because of pressure from the livestock industry.[169]

Though not putting its money where its mouth is, the USDA insists that
the agency is doing everything it can with regard to Johne's disease.[61]
The USDA, for example, cites the formation of the National Johne's Working
Group (NJWG) in 1994. However, the executive committee of the group is
composed of three people: one is John Adams of the National Milk Producers
Federation and another is Gary Weber, a director of the National Cattleman's
Beef Association.[201]

For those that remember the Oprah Winfrey mad cow fiasco, Weber was the
cattleman defending cow cannibalism. "Now keep in mind," he said on that
show, "before you -- you view the ruminant animal, the cow, as simply a
vegetarian -- remember that they drink milk." Years earlier, in response to
activists' requests that farmers discontinue the practice of feeding
rendered animal protein to animals raised for slaughter, he told industry
publication Food Chemical News that the cattle industry could indeed find
economically feasible alternatives to such a practice, but that the
cattlemen's association did not want to "set a precedent of being ruled by
activists."[137]

Not surprisingly, the NJWG has officially come out against making Johne's
a reportable disease, advocating that all attempts at control be
voluntary.[169] In a moment of rare candor, one NJWG member explained why:
"If the farmers have to report positive cows, then it will be like the sheep
scrapie [mad sheep disease] program. Instead of reporting the disease, the
farmers will 'shoot, shovel and shut up.'"[119]

A year earlier, a national paratuberculosis certification program had
been started in order to identify low risk herds, but only 1% of dairy
operations reported participating in the program, citing associated
costs.[190] Less than 15% of the dairy producers appear to test for
Johne's.[106] In 1997, the NJWG set up a similar program designed to be more
affordable,15 but again chose to keep it strictly optional, relying on the
"livestock industry in each state to sell its economic advantage to its
members."[169] As a concession to the industry, there is still no federally
mandated Johne's disease control program.[169] Some states have Johne's
control programs, but without exception they are noncompulsory.[123] Just as
government deregulation of industry may have led to the mad cow disaster in
Europe, the lack of industry accountability may also play a pivotal role in
the human consequences of the paratuberculosis epidemic.[114]

The United States is being left behind in the worldwide race to eliminate
paraTB.[118] The Netherlands, one of Europe's largest dairy exporters, has
pledged to eradicate paratuberculosis by the end of this year by instigating
a compulsory eradication program.[189] "To minimize the risk of human
exposure to paratuberculosis" is one of the explicit reasons given for the
Dutch program.[47] Sweden seems to be closest to winning the battle,
probably because it was the first country whose control efforts were
nonvoluntary.[141] Australia is currently also certifying herds with a view
to eradication.[72] Although there are currently no restrictions on
international trade as a result of the disease,[106] that may well change
and potentially threaten America's $700 million dairy product export
industry.[189]

Mike Collins began his messages to both the Johne's Disease Committee and
the general session of the USAHA with the same words: "Don't shoot the
messenger."[73] Rather than participating in serious dialogue around the
issue, the dairy industry has been accused of spending its energies slinging
mud at researchers in the field,61 giving lip service, and vainly hoping it
just all blows away.[24] Christine Rossiter, senior extension veterinarian
with the Cornell University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, told the
Wisconsin Agriculturist that those who decide to address the issue are put
at risk and there's "no value placed by the industry on a person who wants
to do something about Johne's. Nobody wants to take it on."[61]

At an international colloquium on paratuberculosis, Chiodini expressed
his view that the current focus of the American dairy industry "could put
the industry in the same light as the tobacco industry, being accused of a
cover-up and faced with all sorts of liabilities."[24] Paul Strandberg,
Assistant Attorney General of the State of Minnesota warned the Johne's
Disease Committee that if they chose to be less than forthright about the
possible link between milk and beef and Crohn's Disease, they could wind up
on 60 Minutes in the middle of a media circus.[119]

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